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Rating: 
Summary: A Great New Flash Book
Review: Flash 4 Web Animation F/X is a great resource for Flash 4. The addition of the definitive Flash expert, John Croteau, guarantees that there is significant new content in this version of the series. As I helped with the technical editing on several chapters, I know how much depth of information is contained in this volume. I have been a Flash designer since Flash 2 and even I found new and useful facts and methods to help expand my Flash knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for a newbie and not so new to Flash
Review: I liked this book and would recommend it. The first critique I do of a book of this sort is work with the index. When I am new to an application I will look up things by the index that I immediately want to know rather than the TofC. I find most books on computer graphics and design are iffy in the index area. This book satisfied my quest. The only downside I have on this book is the visual layout. I found the font distracting ... personal choice I am sure but content was good.
Rating:
Summary: At least it covers ActionScripting
Review: I mainly bought this book for it's coverage of ActionScripting - which is the most thorough that I've seen - after waisting my money on the Flash 4 Bible. The only thing that I don't like is that my book is falling apart - I think they need better binding!
Rating: 
Summary: Overpriced newbie guide
Review: I should've known that buying a book unseen was a bad idea. It is the second most expensive book I ever bought, and not the most useful by far. The authors take you on a tour through the Flash environment, as they should. However, they fail to point out what to do when Flash performs unexpectedly. You see, the GUI of Flash isn't all that hard to master. What IS hard, is getting Flash to actually do the stuff you want: I wanted a button that pauses the movie with a click, and continues it with another click. No help from the book. A shape tween looks weird, I want to adjust it. No help from the book. If you want to get to the knowledge level this book provides, just stick with the online tutorials!
Rating: 
Summary: Very frustrating to follow
Review: I will agree with the previous reviews. It was really helpful for learning drawing and animation techniques, but the actionscript part was too small and not detailed enough. I have read similar books for Macromedia Director and Lingo (the equivalent of actionscript for Director), and by comparison this book was poor in this area. It is very good for a beginner, but not very helpful for someone more advanced.
Rating:
Summary: Better than most, but not the best
Review: John Croteau saves this book. Unfortunately he takes on precious few chapters, although the CD contains more of his valuable tutorials. The other authors work is passable if you're a beginner and it doesn't totally restate the manual like almost all of the other Flash 4 books, but I think I would only be happy if I'd have paid half the price. With lame graphics and largely weak content, this book does not deserve to be the most expensive Flash book that I, at least, am aware of.
Rating:
Summary: More like a long boring storybook.
Review: Oh, this book is treating their readers for granted. A large part of it is mainly on drawing lessons. Very disappointing. Even if the author wanted to allow user to have a good knowledge on drawing in Flash, it should put it in an easier and lighter way. Learning from this book is like reading a long boring storybook. If given a choice, I will return this book to the authors again.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for newbies but you eventually want more!
Review: This book is excellent but there is one problem- Actionscript chapter is very small and I had a VERY hard time understanding some of actionscript things... This book is excellent for learning how to draw and stuff. If you plan on learning actionscrt buy something else
Rating:
Summary: Very frustrating to follow
Review: This book was not written for beginners. I read this book first, and then, after getting frustrated trying to follow the instructions, read another book on Flash and thank goodness. This book has very vague commands. Also, there are few illustrations to accompany any of the commands.The authors jump from one project to another with little fluidity, and continue skipping descriptions of key steps, throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: Lenghty explanations
Review: This novice, anyway, found it frustrating to work through the exercises when there were steps omitted, commands described by the wrong name, graphic files on the CD that don't match the pictures in the book, and instructions that don't give the results the text tells the reader to expect. Doesn't Coriolis Press test this stuff? Otherwise, there are a lot of exercises, apparently explaining every effect described. I'm only on p. 155, and I expect I'll learn a lot by the time I finish on p. 360.
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